Keith Rodger has been involved with Omaha Fashion Week for eight seasons as Music Director and Metropolitan Community College Student Night panelist. We chatted with Keith about the keys to success in the music industry and how Make Believe Studios is keeping up with the West Coast.

What does Make Believe Studios do?

Make Believe Studios is a full state-of-the-art flagship recording studio based out of Omaha, Nebraska. It was started by a great team of young, aspiring engineers and musicians. Over 10 years, we have grown to do some very incredible work for the music and television industries. We just have one goal; we want to make the best possible creative endeavors with our friends. It took us a long time to achieve that but we finally made it and have been flying high for a while now.

Make Believe Studios. Photo by Dan Thompson.

What is your role?

My official position at Make Believe is Chief Recording Engineer. I welcome in clients, get them comfortable, set up some instruments, microphones, and all that. Then, I sit there with them and record, edit, arrange, and sometimes produce records. A day in the life is very laid back for the most part but it does require quite a bit of time. Sometimes we’ll have a client visiting to work on their record and they rent the studio for two weeks, so I’ll come into the studio and be there for 16 hours. A lot of it is trying to fuel the creative side of our brains to harness and document some of our best ideas into sonic art. It sounds fun but sometimes it’s very difficult because sound is so imperfect. Some people spend their lives trying to make perfection out of it and that’s an almost impossible thing to do.

Do you work within a genre?

We have absolutely no limitations on who we work with. We have no rules and we don’t specialize in any sort of genre or sound. Engineers and producers do not observe the world by genre or style; they observe the world by emotion and they observe art as emotion. When an artist who may like to write country songs and another artist who likes to write rap songs both come in on the same day, we’re not changing much in our formula because we’re just hearing what they’re expressing emotionally. We’re using the same gear and a lot of the same recording techniques. It’s all about making sure that the performance is perfect and that that they’re happy with everything that they create.

Why Omaha?

A lot of people don’t know this but we work in Omaha and Los Angeles. So, we do spend quite a bit of time in California but we chose Omaha to build this particular studio. We learned that Omaha is a very unique place to build a grassroots company like this. Omaha is always very welcoming to the grassroots, small business lifestyle. We wouldn’t be able to achieve building a studio like this in Los Angeles, especially from where we all come from and our upbringings. We’re not rich kids; we don’t have any privilege. We were punk rock kids who studied a lot and put in the time to learn how to be master engineers. Omaha was the most reasonable place to be able to achieve what we wanted to do. This studio took us two years to build. It was a lot of trial and error and Omaha was always very supportive in our endeavors.

What makes the Omaha music scene unique?

There are a lot of people in this city who love to make music. There are a lot of people who love to be creative. There’s not an industry to support everyone. We know that we can set a new tone in this city by having a studio that is comparable, if not better, than a majority of studios that you experience in larger cities. When people come to Make Believe from these bigger cities, I always hear, “I’ve never been to a place like this before.” That makes us realize that when these people go back home, they’re not only talking about how nice Omaha is, they're also talking about how amazing this place that we built is, how special it is to them, and how special it can be to others if they take the time to come out and hang out with us. We have been coined as a destination location and I’m okay with that. Especially in these times, Omaha is becoming a place of interest for a lot of people from bigger cities. We want to be at the forefront of options for those types of musicians.

How does Make Believe mentor up-and-coming artists?

We don’t lie to them. We’ve always been very honest and keen on making sure that when young artists come in here, they don’t walk out with some sort of illusion of what a studio experience is like or what they’re getting. We always keep it 100 with young artists. I would not be where I’m at if I didn’t have people who were mentors, folks who put in the time to let me know how to navigate in this industry and how to survive. When young artists come in, if they’re willing to learn, I’m willing to teach. If they're not willing to learn or listen, then I don’t stress it too much.

I’m always a big advocate on education, mentorship, and making sure that youths get their time and space. They're the ones who are going to be leading the pack when my world changes and slows down in Omaha. Since I was in my early 20s, I’ve taken mentorships with plenty of young music students. Now, they're all on the scene playing shows, engineering, producing records, going on tour, and it’s cool to see how they navigate and how they’ve been able to survive based on the bits of knowledge darts that I threw at them when they were kids. If those people can lead this city, then I know that I've done a good job.

What specific knowledge darts do you throw at them?

The first knowledge dart is, be humble. There’s no use to trying to be somebody that you’re not. I’ve always been raw and real about who I am, where I come from, and what my intentions are. As long as you’re humble through the process, the opportunities will always come around.

Another knowledge dart I lay down to people is, if you want to navigate this industry in a healthy way, you have to practice your social skills. An impression is everything. There’s a very rare case of somebody who’s extremely talented and has a troubling personality type that will survive in the industry. There are plenty of people in this world that are young and extremely talented but lack the qualities of being able to get along with others or put themselves out there as somebody worth investing time and energy into. If you’re young in this industry, you need to learn how to be better at networking and be socially aware. It’s about getting out there and communicating with your community. You won’t get anywhere unless you’re in tune with your community and how people are progressing their businesses.

The best thing that I say is, "Just listen." Spend more time listening than you do speaking. If you spend more time talking than listening, you’re not learning anything. I think that can apply to anybody in any industry but especially with music. Some people get into this world and they’re not listening to what is being played for them or said to them and they tend to be know-it-alls. I’d rather be a learn-it-all than a know-it-all. That’s why I spend more time talking to young people. I’m not trying to teach them anything. I’m trying to learn why they think the way they think and why they want to progress the way they do. I’m always going to try to be in tune and I will be like that until the day I die. I’ve gotten jobs because I’m a good listener and a good observer. I didn’t get a job because I was good at technical jargon and knowing how to turn up a volume knob or anything. I can listen and communicate.

What resources do musicians need?

Resource wise, do whatever you can to study the business. There’s a great book out there called All You Need to Know About the Music Business by Donald S. Passman. I read this book when I was younger and it settled my perception of how things are going in the current climate. Every year they bring out a new version. Try to read up as much as you can, but also experience. Just realize that you have to go in and try to obtain as much experience as possible, and that can be through any channel or any medium. If you’re trying to be an engineer, get yourself an internship at a studio and when you get that internship, don’t be lazy. Even though these engineers might not be talking to you or teaching you, by listening and observing you’ll learn more than anything and that’s how I was able to get to the seat I’m in. Put in the effort and the time to hone your skills to be able to meet requirements.

I didn’t go to school to be an engineer. I learned how to be an engineer because I did everything I could to get into a studio and I never left. When I had to go to work, I went to work and then I went back to the studio. When I had to go home to do my laundry, I would just throw my laundry in and then go back to the studio. I spent every waking moment being in this place so I could learn how every button worked and how every knob turned, what it does, and how it affects sound. I did that for years and years until one day when the opportunity came to take a seat, I took a seat and I’ve been rocking it ever since. Now, I go home and I make time for myself. The best resource is you, your ears, and possibly a pen and pad. Get in the fire, get out there, and try to gain every opportunity that comes your way.

“Music has taught me so much about the human condition, the history of cities, cultures, and backgrounds. Through music, I was able to travel the world. I’ve learned so much about life through music and I don’t think any other thing could ever bring that sort of joy and wanderlust.”

— Keith Rodger

How does the music you make affect the community?

Music, in general, is always going to create this positive reaction from people no matter what emotion. Music is healing people in some way. I try not to go out in the world and collect data or observe how people feel about the records we make because I feel like that would deter the kind of artist I am. I would solely depend on making records to make people happy and that’s not why I got into this game. I sometimes want to make records that disgust people; it’s the truth. I don’t really think about people’s reactions when I’m making records, either. I make it and then think about that stuff when it’s already out because you have to realize people like anything. There are no limits on what people like anymore. Everybody likes everything.

It took a while to achieve this but it’s nice to go out and see a band or an artist that I’ve worked with performing their songs they worked so hard on producing. I love seeing crowds react to their music. It makes me feel like we’re doing a really good thing. The sound already is dope, that’s a given, but how people react to it is everything. I definitely learned that when records are done through our studio that we have a particular sound that hits people in a certain way that is incomparable to other places around town. I think it’s because our sound is clear and concise. We’re able to express the frequency range that people can feel, not just hear, and we figured those secrets out. No matter what kind of record, we know how to make those sounds really hit people in the heart and their soul and their chest and their ass, wherever they need to move or get a reaction from. I love being at the live show and hearing the song come on the system and kids are like losing it, going crazy and trampling each other and I’m in the back drinking wine. It’s a nice feeling.

What may people not know about the music industry?

The music industry is changing at a rapid pace. It’s happening so fast that even the companies who have been in the industry for over 100 years have no idea what’s going to happen. By getting into this industry, you have to understand how to adapt to what changes are going to come because it is going to change. There are some innovations out there that are going to alter the way that we perceive, experience, and create music. If you’re ready for that, it’s going to be a great ride. If you’re not ready for that, consider jumping into a different industry.

I grew up in a weird time for music because I experienced when kids started stealing music digitally. Back then, it was viewed as the equivalent of going to a record store and stealing an album. Nowadays, nobody cares about it. That’s just how music is. I learned that this kind of stuff is continually going to happen and I have to be ready to figure out ways to navigate. If you’re a good observer, you’ll be aware of what’s going to be successful. If you’re blind to the situation, you might drown with quite a few people that choose to not follow and keep up with the times.

How do you measure success?

In this industry, success never happens overnight. When it does, it’s always too good to be true. I got my professional start in music when I was roughly 19. I’m 30 now and I’m still in the game, so I measure my success by longevity. I ask myself, “Will I still be here when I’m 40 or 50?” I think if I do stick around and I do survive then that is successful. It’s not a normal job. The turnover rate in music is one of the highest. It’s very easy to quit this job; it’s very easy to let go. I just want to make better records and better art than the previous year.

Every year, Make Believe has been able to progress. We’ve been behind the boards, nominated for Grammy’s, down those lanes, and we’re still trying to achieve our original goal and that’s just to make great records. Everything else is just kind of the cream of the crop. My goal is to look back and grab any record or anything I’ve made in the past 10 years and play it for somebody, show the world what I’ve done, and feel proud about it. That, to me, is a great level of success.

Since social isolation began, weekly Jazz Nite performances have helped the community gather socially. What is Jazz Nite?

Jazz Nite started as a quarantined version of a weekly jazz tradition between a group of friends who would meet at Mr. Toads every Sunday for the live Jazz band. Every week Neal Duffy and I play our favorite jazz records and host a variety of special guests from around the globe. Jazz Nite 10 is May 24th from 9 PM - 12 AM CST. We are featuring Lau Noah from NYC. Check out her performance on NPR’s Tiny Desk.

Lau Noah on Tiny Desk

To learn more about Make Believe Studios or book a recording session, click the links below.